Barris got his start in television as a page and later staffer at NBC in New York, and eventually worked backstage at the TV music show American Bandstand.

Barris was promoted to the daytime programming division at ABC in Los Angeles and was put in charge of deciding which game shows ABC would air. Barris admitted to his bosses that the producer/packagers' pitches of game show concepts were worse than Barris' own ideas. They suggested that he quit his ABC programming job and become a producer himself.

He went on to create several other short-lived games for ABC in the 1960s and for syndication in the 1970s, all of which revolved around a common theme: the game play normally derived its interest (and oftentimes, humor) from the excitement, vulnerability, embarrassment, or anger of female contestants or participants in the game.

Barris became a public figure in a big way in 1976, when he produced - and served as the host of the talent contest spoof The Gong Show, which he packaged in partnership with TV producer Chris Bearde. The show's cult stature far outstripped the two years it spent on NBC (1976-78) and the four years it ran in syndication (1976-1980).

Many people believe Confessions does not tell a true story. Others are not sure if it is fact or fiction. Some, including celebrities who knew Barris, do not know or care, and enjoy his stories as entertainment. The CIA itself denies Barris ever worked for them.